
In the Feb. 11 Millwood Public Schools Board of Education primary election, two challengers are running against incumbent District 5 member Marvin Provo, who first took office more than 25 years ago.
Provo won re-election for his current term by default in 2020Â after he was the only candidate to file for the position. As his term comes to an end this year, Provo is now facing two opponents to maintain his seat on the board: culinary instructor Andre Coleman and real estate agent Danta Robinson.
Millwood Public Schools — located within Oklahoma County and covering portions of northeast Oklahoma City — has five school board members presiding over the three institutions in the district. Ward 5 is the smallest geographical district within MPS, representing an area south of Interstate 44, bound to the south by Northwest 50th Street and to the west by North Kelley Avenue. To the north, the district is roughly bound by Northeast 35th Street. To the west, the district stops just short of Martin Luther King Avenue.
Turnout in the school board election could be slightly higher than usual, owing to a pair of coinciding elections that are hotly contested: the open Ward 7 seat on the OKC City Council and the special Democratic primary election for District 1 on the Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners. With Millwood Public Schools known for its tight-knit nature, none of the three District 5 candidates appears to have an active campaign presence online.
In-person early voting is set from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, and Friday, Feb. 7 at the Oklahoma County Election Board. On Tuesday, Feb. 11, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the MPS District 5 vote, the top two candidates will proceed to a general election Tuesday, April 1.
The following cheat sheet provides an overview of the Millwood Public Schools District 5 candidates and is based on publicly available information, such as campaign websites, news reports and social media. The candidates are presented in alphabetical order.
Andre Coleman

Age: 51
Profession/background: According to LinkedIn, Andre Coleman earned his certification in culinary arts and chef training from Johnson & Wales University in 1992. Since then, Coleman has worked in dining services at South Community Hospital, Oklahoma City Community College, and Tealridge Assisted Living & Memory Care.
Coleman has also worked as a licensed insurance agent since 2017, according to his LinkedIn, and he was hired to teacher culinary arts at Metro Technology Centers in July 2023. According to his Facebook page, Coleman is a former director on the board for the Oklahoma State School Boards Association.
Previously, Coleman served as the District 2 Millwood Public Schools Board member, but he left the position in 2022 after his successor — current District 2 member LaToya High — filed a petition to contest Coleman’s candidacy on grounds his residence fell outside of District 2’s boundaries. Coleman withdrew his bid for re-election before his scheduled December 2021 candidacy hearing and High won the election by default.
Marvin Provo (incumbent)

Age: 84
Profession/background: Marvin Provo has served on the Millwood Public Schools Board uninterrupted since his first election in the 1990s. Provo was an unopposed candidate in 1998. Provo’s tenure has spanned decades, including changes to the district’s superintendent and other local leadership positions.
Provo previously served as president of the Millwood Enrichment Foundation — a nonprofit organization established in 1983 to enhance the education experience of Millwood’s students, teachers and staff through funding support and creative programs.
Provo worked as a broker for Equitable Advisors LLC from 1980 until 2021, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He is listed as a deacon of ministry at Prospect Missionary Baptist Church in OKC, with a focus on Christian education and scholarship ministries. He is also the uncle of former state senator and Oklahoma City Public Schools Board Chairwoman Angela Monson.
Links: Facebook
Danta Robinson

Age: 64
Profession/background: According to LinkedIn, Danta Robinson studied mechanical engineering at Oklahoma State University, oil and gas field management at OSU’s Institute of Technology, and chemical engineering at the University of Kansas. She later pursued a career in real estate.
According to Robinson’s bio on the McGraw Realtors website, Robinson previously worked “as an associate pipeline engineer on pipeline and refinery construction projects on the open plains and towns of Oklahoma to the southern Texas coast.” She participated in multiple large-scale “community sales and development” projects.
Following the start of her real estate pursuits in Texas, Robinson received her Oklahoma real estate license in 2018 and is currently employed as a sales associate at a McGraw Davisson Stewart branch office according to the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission.
According to Robinson’s bio and Facebook page, Robinson is also the owner and CEO of ProgenyPartners, “a consultancy-based firm that offers her broad expertise to her clients for business structuring, project and construction management, contract negotiations, paralegal services, capital funding for small businesses and startups in addition to real estate services.”
However, ProgenyPartners, LLC is listed as being inactive in Oklahoma Secretary of State corporate entity records.
At community meetings, Robinson has been critical of a tax increment financing district proposed within Millwood Public Schools.
